For many years, lighting was primarily achieved using incandescent filament or high-intensity discharge (HID) tube lamps. Fundamentally inefficient at directing light only where it is needed, these products produce a central glowing sphere of light surrounded by a polar arrayed light gradient, through the use of reflectors and refractors.
Since about 2010, LED lamps have quickly become the primary choice for lighting due to their energy efficiency and promise of low maintenance. However, the major objection to the adoption of LED light sources is their propensity for being very bright with too much glare in the user field of view. The visual effect created by a typical LED luminaire is that of discreet dots of light, commonly in a rectilinear pattern, with the capability of being quite bright with high glare.
Glare is not only discomforting but may also impair an individual's vision for a period of time until the eyes adapt to the visual environment. Since elevated outdoor lights employed to illuminate outdoor spaces, streets and roadways are set against a dark black sky, the problem of glare is compounded.
A need thus exists for an LED luminaire that provides effective lighting with less glare.